Since 2022
Maxence Lacroix set for medical – Chelsea’s defensive spending spree to smash €500m
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The summer transfer window is in full swing and, as many would expect, Chelsea are at the forefront of spending among Premier League clubs. The Blues have already splashed out to sign Atalanta right-back Marco Palestra for €57 million, plus sell-on clauses, making the 21-year-old talent the joint-fifth most expensive right-back in the history of the sport.
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However, Chelsea's big summer investments in their back line are not stopping there. Less than 24 hours after agreeing a club-record €137.6m deal for Morgan Rogers, the west London club are now set to sign Crystal Palace centre-half Maxence Lacroix. Despite being linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich, the player is set to have a Chelsea medical today ahead of a move expected to cost the Blues in the region of €61m. He will sign a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2031. That would take Chelsea’s spending on defenders ahead of the new season to over €120m. And that should come as no great surprise to fans of the club, considering Chelsea’s policy of hoovering up defenders since Todd Boehly & Co. took over in 2022.
Chelsea have already spent a staggering €466m on defenders since the start of the 2022/23 season and Lacroix's deal would take them past the €500m mark. Not only is that a quarter of the club's total spending on transfer fees in that period of time, but it's also around €80m more than Manchester City and almost twice what European champions Paris Saint-Germain have spent on defenders in the last four seasons.
When we break that figure down into fees paid each season, it tells an interesting story. For example, in the 2022/23 season Chelsea spent €256m on new defenders – over half their total amount since then. That figure dropped to just €45m in the 23/24 season and just €41m in the following season, followed by a relatively modest sum of €58m spent on new defenders last season. However, it reports are to be believed, Chelsea will almost certainly blow right past the €100m figure for new defenders this season. And the club will certainly be hoping that this summer's investment may bring with it more success than the previous defenders signed in recent years.
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